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The 2,700 jobs added in April 2015 also were up from the 1,900 jobs created in April 2014, he said. In the past year, Pierce County has added 10,200 jobs, 2,600 of them in construction.

Thurston County, too, added 300 jobs between March and April, lowering the unemployment rate to 5.6 percent last month from 6 percent in March, Vleming said.

Leisure and hospitality added 600 new jobs, but after other industries shed jobs, the net result was 300 new jobs in the county for April, he said. The county added no new jobs in April 2014, Vleming said.

In the past year, Thurston County has added 4,500 new jobs, 1,200 in leisure and hospitality, Vleming said.

Seasonally adjusted unemployment rates in Washington state and the U.S. were 5.5 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively, in April.

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